I was sprinting with all my might.
Whooosh!
Shadow blades grazed past me and missed my back by mere inches.
I continued to run at full speed before I suddenly veered off at a sharp 90-degree angle.
Dang Gyu-young jumped out of the shadows and slashed with her dagger but she missed my ankle by a hair’s breadth and clicked her tongue in frustration.
“Tch.”
She melted back into the shadows and a flurry of blades followed.
This time, two shadow butterflies flew towards my path.
I immediately focused strength into my legs and pushed off the ground with force.
Boom!
I barely managed to weave through the exploding butterflies…
Only for half a dozen more to come flying at me.
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
I staggered comically before I started zigzagging through the explosions.
That was a close call.
Once Dang Gyu-young removed her bracelet, her strength increased to a level that was incomparable to when I easily peeled off the stickers.
Take her main skill, [Shadow Butterfly Flight], for instance. While it was previously limited to summoning merely three butterflies, she was now able to conjure them continuously without restriction.
She freely unleashed skills that had been constrained by mana limits.
A prime example was her use of [Shadow Leap] which was a B-rank skill that allowed her to vanish into shadows and reappear from various locations.
This skill was akin to the [Space Leap] which was a main movement technique among mages, but its immense mana consumption meant it was unfeasible with a C-rank [Core].
But if it’s Dang Gyu-young, her [Core] should be A-rank.
So how can I avoid the attacks of Dang Gyu-young that became so strong?
First, our speeds weren’t vastly different.
Second, as someone who raised 1,000 S-rank heroes my own control had reached the pinnacle.
Lastly, I was thoroughly familiar with Dang Gyu-young’s skills.
After all, I’ve trained Shadow Mages myself.
Though it was a relatively rare class, I had managed to train two up to S-rank.
Crash!
And making use of such control and experience, I once again dodged the shadow blades with dazzling movements.
But how long would I have to keep dodging like this?
Dang Gyu-young seemed to harbor similar thoughts and continued to launch shadow daggers while asking.
“Are you sure you are learning the trait correctly?”
“Yes, just keep going as you are.”
Even without a status window to see the figures, I had the unique confidence that comes with being a veteran player.
A firm belief that I was steadily progressing toward my goal.
Before even delving into the method of mastering [Distortion].
Like many games, <Dragon Slayer Academy> also had its share of hidden figures.
One of these was the concept of streaks.
Streaks accumulate one by one with each successive action performed successfully.
For example, if you landed attacks consecutively ten times, you’d have ten hit streaks.
Naturally, what I was accumulating were dodging streaks.
Similar to hitting, each successful dodge added one dodging streak.
And the minimum prerequisite for acquiring [Distortion] was maintaining over 1,000 dodging streaks.
Only after reaching this threshold does each evasion attempt come with a probability to learn the trait.
But at exactly 1,000 streaks, that probability was so ridiculously low that it was practically zero.
Then, how could one increase this probability?
I need to accumulate more streaks.
The more streaks I gathered, the higher the probability would continuously climb.
It was about repeatedly dodging and knocking on the door of chance over and over again.
This was precisely the process of mastering [Distortion].
So what was the faster way to accumulate these streaks?
Dodging attacks from opponents of a higher level than myself, meaning those whose skills or equipment ranks were higher, was the answer.
If the rank difference was big, it could result in gaining three or four streaks at once.
Early mentoring is important.
This was why securing it early in my first year was far easier than later.
And also why most rankers eventually gave up on it despite knowing the conditions.
The average rank of the skills I possessed currently fluctuated between D and C, which meant I could gain more than three streaks from opponents of rank B.
But what if I were to increase my rank?
To achieve the same number of streaks, I would have to dodge attacks from rank A opponents.
And upon reaching ranks A and S, I would need to continue evading attacks from opponents of a similar level, only to gain a mere single streak at best.
Moreover, allowing even one effective hit would mean starting all over again, making it almost impossible to pursue [Distortion] even at rank B.
I didn’t allow even a single effective hit against me from the second week of the duel battles.
I engaged in what could best be described as an intense game of tag with opponents who were stronger than me in paper, like the wooden golem of Mok Jong-hwa, the Feathered Snake Priest, and the Black Death Squad leader.
Taking on the role of drawing the boss’s aggro in two strategy dungeons was also for this very reason.
I must have accumulated about 4,000 by now.
Even the probability which was once nearly zero had been raised to a somewhat decent level, and I had inflated that chance even further with the mentoring event bonus.
If this still isn’t enough, I’ll just have to stack more.
After all, there was a perfect opponent for stacking right before my eyes. Someone of about B- rank.
It was only a matter of time.
If not this week, then certainly within this mentoring period.
Boom!
When I dodged another explosion and changed direction, Dang Gyu-young was already waiting. She already anticipated where I would go.
She slid close and repeatedly stabbed with her dagger.
With each thrust she said one word.
“Why, won’t, this, hit?”
As she continued to follow while waving her hand, shadow blades and butterflies rushed towards me all at once.
There was no escape in any direction—front, back, left, or right.
The only option left was,
“Up.”
Bending my knees slightly, I propelled myself upward with a strong and sudden leap into the air.
Pop!
Actually, it wasn’t a very good choice.
In aerial combat, butterflies that can move freely held a significant advantage.
Moreover, shadow blades and butterflies were already trailing behind me.
However, my aim lay elsewhere.
Bang!
I had prepared a [Wind Force] spell in advance and cast it on myself to forcefully propel me forward.
My figure shot through the air like a cannonball before landing lightly some distance away.
“……”
Dang Gyu-Young who saw the scene didn’t launch another attack but stood frozen with a look of dismay on her face.
“Senior, let’s keep going.”
“……I’m done. I need a rest.”
And with that, she slumped down right there.
She appeared more exhausted than I, who had been merely fleeing the whole time.
After all, unleashing skills into the air as if there was no tomorrow must have been incredibly draining to her, not to mention the mental fatigue from never landing a hit.
Dang Gyu-Young patted the ground beside her.
“Come sit here too.”
“Okay.”
Dang Gyu-Young let out a snicker after seeing me flop down beside her in the same manner.
“You dodge pretty well, don’t you? At some point, I was genuinely trying, but how did you not get hit even once?”
At first, she must have thought she had the upper hand over a first-year since she had now taken off the bracelet and started off using minimal effort.
But as I continued to narrowly evade her attacks, her frustration seemed to grow, and she became more serious before she eventually used every trick in the book to try and land a hit on me.
“This is a skill I have accumulated after graduating over 200 times.”
“You’re really committed to that lie. You planning to stick with that?”
“For the time being.”
Dang Gyu-Young seemed convinced that I was hiding something behind the lie of “200 graduations”.
It’s easier to leave it alone than to prove anything, so I decided to maintain this stance.
At least for the time being.
“But the more I think about it, this feels like a loss for me.”
“Why would it be a loss? This is all part of mentoring.”
“Keeping secrets isn’t part of it, though. Can I record this and upload the replay?”
Dang Gyu-Young flashed a mischievous smile.
I tried to brush it off but it seems that didn’t work.
Since [Distortion] was an extremely rare trait even in Dragon Slayer Academy, there will be very few people who know about it in the world of this game.
Dang Gyu-young was the president of the thieves’ club and must also be an information broker, but she herself never heard of this trait.
Therefore, it was in my best interest to keep my training in distortion and that I was dodging every attack from a third-year student of about B rank under wraps.
It seemed like she wanted something in return for not reporting to the academic department, so I had no choice but to ask.
“What do you need?”
“Well, nothing at the moment?”
Dang Gyu-Young flashed a sly grin and extended her pinky finger.
“Instead, I’ll take a favor to be named later. Come on, pinky promise.”
But I hesitated to link fingers too hastily.
Unsecured loans are always the scariest after all.
The air was thick with the scent of dark and dubious schemes.
“This seems suspicious. You’re not going to ask for something weird later, are you? Like joining your club.”
“I won’t ask for anything weird! And since when is joining our club weird?”
“Still, I’m not keen on it. I’ll just practice close combat. Just like the others.”
After all, when it comes to the dodging streak, more is usually better, but with this much already accumulated, it’s fine to dodge moderately and just play the odds.
This meant that even if Dang Gyu-young didn’t give it her all, it wouldn’t be a significant loss for me.
When I showed signs of completely withdrawing, Dang Gyu-young gently persuaded me.
“Hey, don’t give up so easily. Master this well, and you can contribute to that world peace you’re always talking about.”
“I’ve reconsidered and I think it’s okay to take it slow and work hard.”
“Ah, come on, then. If you really think it’s weird you can back off. Are we good?”
“Alright.”
It was then that I finally hooked my pinky with hers.
I figured it would be safe as long as I took precautions.
Dang Gyu-young’s smile was pleasing, but to me, it seemed more suspicious than the sly grins of villains.
Why did she want to hold onto a promise from me?
What does she plan to ask of me later?
***
At the same time,
In another round arena,
Seo Ye-in was as expressionless as ever and she looked somewhat sleepy as she gazed at someone else.
At the end of her gaze stood a woman who was neatly dressed in a suit.
Anyone seeing this woman for the first time would immediately think of the word “competent”.
She embodied not just the perfect image of a career woman with every angle polished but she also gave the impression she could flawlessly execute any task assigned to her.
She was the very epitome of competence wrapped up in a human form.
The woman in the suit locked her gaze onto Seo Ye-in, who met her gaze with her usual indifferent demeanor.
The two people faced each other in silence for a long time until the woman in the suit finally opened her mouth.
“Miss, I have arrived.”
She then bowed deeply.
Her name was Ahn Jeong-mi,
The team leader of Strategy Team 2 in the Future Strategy Office of Hye-seong Group.
She was one of the “butlers” who served Seo Ye-in’s family for many years.
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